According to the research from Sullivan and his team, a naturally occurring protein used by the leukemia virus to contribute to its resulting cancer in Bevo XIV acted very differently when tested on a human hepatitis C sample: It stopped the replication of the infection.

“This may have relevance to an emerging drug class for that virus,” Sullivan told the UT College of Natural Sciences. “And I think the real interesting story is that a bovine virus that nobody pays enough attention to and is near impossible to get research funding for, led to it all.”

Bevo XIV, also known as Sunrise Studly, was UT’s football mascot from 2004–2015. The National Grand Champion Show Steer measured 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighed 2,100 pounds and had sweeping, sharp horns measuring 82 inches tip to tip. He first took up the Bevo mantle at the age of 2 died at 13.

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